Love TiVo - BUT !!Last night my TiVo-3 stopped recording "Prison Break" 46 minutes into the show. (8:00 to 8:46)Then it recorded all of "24" (9:00 to 10:00) on the same channel.

Sounds like you may have been bitten by the EAS (Emergency Alert System). If this stupid thing comes on, it knocks your S3 out to live TV and the S3 does not know how to restart it's recording. Hopefully they will fix this.

Sounds like you may have been bitten by the EAS (Emergency Alert System). If this stupid thing comes on, it knocks your S3 out to live TV and the S3 does not know how to restart it's recording. Hopefully they will fix this.

It *may* have been the "Emergency Alert bug" but I think, more than likely, it is is the "Missing channels" bug that is described earlier in this thread (and elsewhere). I have seen the same type of situation as Abredt while watching something live (Yes, my wife and daughter still watch certain shows live -- at least I've got them trained to wait until 15 min after the hour and they skip through commercials).

We've had it occur on HD and SD, digital and analog, encrypted, and unencrypted. However, the common element in all instances was that it was a "mapped" channel that uses the Cable Card to get its mapping.

A recent instance occurred on an analog channel that is also mapped to another channel number (subject for a whole other thread). On our Time Warner Cable system, Disney is channel 53 (analog) but is also analog on channel 181 (same feed but mapped to two different numbers). My wife and daughter were watching a Disney movie live on Channel 181 when I hear a shout from across the house -- "Dad, the cable is 'messing up' again". I go into the family room and find that they are looking at a gray screen. I quickly ascertain that the other Series 3's are not having the same problem, and get them to move to the other room while I debug that one. I determined the following before the channel came back on its own (about 9 minutes)

a) The analog feed was still there because the other Tivo was getting it
b) The analog feed was still reaching the TiVo in question because it was still showing up on channel 53. The only problem was the mapping to channel 181.
c) The recording stopped at the point that the screen went gray but it still thought it was recording (red icon). It stayed that way until I forced a channel change. The recording that was left in the "Now Playing" stopped at the point it went gray not at the point I changed the channel.
d) Both tuners had the same problem.
e) Both Cable Cards showed Authorized.
f) Could not test signal strength because the channel in question was analog
g) Changing channels and then changing back did not fix it at least not initially.
h) The channel returned on its own after about 9 minutes.

I've had other instances in which the missing channel was Time Warners HD feed of local stations. Similar in some respects to what happened above but a few key differences
a) In those situations, it was only one tuner and not both.
b) In some situations, only a reboot cleared it. Or maybe we didn't wait long enough for it to clear on its own, but a reboot definitely cleared it. Other cases, they came back on their own.
c) Since those were digital, I could check signal strength. It is has been rock solid at 95-97 in all cases. Implies that it is a mapping/authorization issue again since the signal is still there (signal strength) and the HD feeds are in the clear.

Now that I've typed all that, Abredt's issue may very well be an Emergency Broadcast issue. It would be odd for the signal to come back right at the hour. Unless, there was a "chunk" of time missing (14 minutes) and he didn't catch the discontinuity (occurs in a commercial that you are FF through). In my situation above, the final recording would have been 1 hour and 51 minutes with a 9 minute chunk missing in the first hour. I guess a discriminating factor between these two situations might be whether the final minutes of the recording show the credits or it really stops at minute 46.

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Well, I appreciate all your typing because I'm convinced that is exactly what is happening to me as well. I never waited around to see if it comes back on its own though. Rebooting always fixes it but it doesn't give me confidence in my scheduled recordings.

I called today to take care of my bill (Issues with Adelphia rollover) and was told that the new TW billing rates wouldn't go into effect until after all the equipment in our area was changed out. It's supposed to be a significant reduction on our bill.

I asked about the new digital boxes. Specifically, who makes them. The CSR stumbled in her reply so I offered. "My TiVo currently controls the Adelphia Scientific Atlanta box, I was asking about the equipment manufacturer to see if I'd have any problems." Also as soon as she heard TiVo she told me. Our boxes aren't compatible with TiVo.

Clueless or clued into the management party line?

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Now that I've typed all that, Abredt's issue may very well be an Emergency Broadcast issue. It would be odd for the signal to come back right at the hour.

To finish your thought. The reason it could come back one hour later (if we are judging this based on recordings only) is because the EAS will knock out whatever was recording and not recover. But if another program was scheduled to record at the top of the next hour, TiVo will follow it's normal recording schedule. That is where I came to the conclusion it was the EAS. This is precisely what happened to me the first time it happened to me. Now I know enough to press the record button after I see the EAS "IF" I'm in front of the TV at the time it happens.

Channel 409 is the brand new Channel 9 but since I have not switched to digital HD yet I am unsure if 409 is on the regular digital or if with that number we are entering the dreaded Switched Digital (?) area that tivo hd can not get.

Channel 409 is the brand new Channel 9 but since I have not switched to digital HD yet I am unsure if 409 is on the regular digital or if with that number we are entering the dreaded Switched Digital (?) area that tivo hd can not get.

In San Antonio I was able to pick up 2 cable cards at the service center (no sweet talk or social engineering they just slid them over and added them to the list of equipment I have), install them and then call repair.

After getting past a rep that insisted I shouldn't have done that (my problem?) I spoke with a supervisor who had me going in 5 minutes. It is NOT a service call necessity and I have no idea why they want to clog up their service schedules with home visits. With my first Series 3, I had to explain to the tech what to do which is why I knew I didn't need them out a second time.

I'm in West LA serviced by the SM office. 409 is coming through on the S3 with no problems. The lineup is now reflecting it as well.

I'm just south of you (TWC South Bay El Segundo/Torrance) and even though TWC is advertising that they've added KCAL 9-DT on channel 409, it hasn't appeared in my guide on my S3 or my two SA8300HD DVRs. If i manually enter 409, i get the ??? and the channel does not change. Luckily i pull in 9-1 OTA perfectly

I live in Manhattan and am planning on getting HDTV service from Time Warner Cable and upgrading to an S3. Do I have to do it w/ cablecards or can still just use a time warner digital cable set-top box? The cablecards sound great, but I would lose access to on-demand programming. ..

Yes this is one of the reasons why I'm debating whether I should go with an S3 or TimeWarner's DVR solution. With S3, I lose my on-demand stations (big no-no..). With TWC's DVR, I go back to a deluxe-VCR instead of the features that made TiVo famous. What a dilemma... Has anyone made up their mind here in Manhattan?
Thanks

Since I had a lifetime S1 to transfer, I have a non-DVR HD settop and two cablecards for less per month than the TW DVR (edit: I'm in Austin, YMMV). I don't really care about on demand, but I had to do this to get switched channels. Unfortunately the settop I got was a SA3100HD, which doesn't output any video on HD channels, so I can't record the switched HD's. If A&E starts showing anything I care about in HD then I'll try swapping it for a 3250HD, especially since the 3100 doesn't have DVI or HDMI

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Yes this is one of the reasons why I'm debating whether I should go with an S3 or TimeWarner's DVR solution. With S3, I lose my on-demand stations (big no-no..). With TWC's DVR, I go back to a deluxe-VCR instead of the features that made TiVo famous. What a dilemma... Has anyone made up their mind here in Manhattan?
Thanks

Why not do both.... Use the S3 where it excels and the POS where necessary.

Yes this is one of the reasons why I'm debating whether I should go with an S3 or TimeWarner's DVR solution. With S3, I lose my on-demand stations (big no-no..). With TWC's DVR, I go back to a deluxe-VCR instead of the features that made TiVo famous. What a dilemma... Has anyone made up their mind here in Manhattan?
Thanks

As a TiVo owner, I've never seen the draw of OnDemand programming. I record everything I'd ever want to watch. While it would be nice to have PPV, I've found the cable company's selection of movies to be juvenile and they are never in a letterboxed format. For movies I'll stick to Netflix and perhaps a future purchase of an IPTV product.

I'm using a Series 3 with Time Warner. Got my Cable Cards installed yesterday, and so far, all seems well. The S3 is what got me to switch away from DirecTV and back to cable. Fingers crossed it continues to work smoothly.

With regards to PPV events, is it just a matter of not being able to order from my remote and set top box? Would I be able to call Customer Service and order them (like I used to do with DirecTV?)

Not a big deal to me, as I've never been interested in PPV movies. I'm more curious about a live event, like Boxing or UFC. I've ordered 1 or 2 of them in the last 5-6 years.

Thanks for any replies.

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I live in Manhattan and am planning on getting HDTV service from Time Warner Cable and upgrading to an S3. Do I have to do it w/ cablecards or can still just use a time warner digital cable set-top box? The cablecards sound great, but I would lose access to on-demand programming. ..

For the record, while I waited the few days for the Cable Cards to feed my S3, I had TWC install their dual tuner HD DVR. Holy bag of crap, Batman! I seriously can't believe how horrific the user interface is on that thing. It's disgusting. As far as comparisons go, the DirecTV HR20 is much nicer. But neither of them are TiVo.

If Time Warner stopped working with the S3 for whatever reason (SDV or some other annoyance) I suppose I'd switch back to DTV, and settle with the HR20. Which isn't fantastic, but it's still pretty good. "Good enough," as it were. And hopefully, will only get better.

I just can't imagine using the TimeWarner box. It was depressing. And no, that's not just because I am "used" to TiVo. It was downright ugly and unintuitive.

I suppose, depending on the answer to my PPV question above, I could always just use their set top box for the few times a year I'd like to watch a PPV event.

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I took one look at the DVR interface and decided not to even try to figure it out. When I first got TiVo I had a good understanding of how it worked in 5 minutes. The DVR remote has more buttons than the cockpit of a 747.

I sit here waiting for my third TWC service call in a week. My S3 is working fine now, but the DVR gets no channels at all. Go figure. In all the years I had DirecTV I never once had a problem.

My first TWC visit was a bust. They sent a contractor who not only didn't have Cable Cards, he didn't know what they were.

The second visit went pretty well, all told. Four TWC (not subcontractor) guys came out, and they ran a brand new wire from the pole to my house. Also gave me a new cable modem. And stuck around while I tested channels on both tuners. 2 of the guys were here for a few hours, and they seemed really committed to make sure everything was working right.

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Is there anywhere that I can find a NUMERICAL listing of the TWC channels and their names? Not the initials, but the full name, in numerical order. I was given a paper guide that has them grouped by theme, or on the back, listed A-Z, but I'd like to go through the list on the TiVo numerically. I can't even find anything on their web site.

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Is there anywhere that I can find a NUMERICAL listing of the TWC channels and their names? Not the initials, but the full name, in numerical order. I was given a paper guide that has them grouped by theme, or on the back, listed A-Z, but I'd like to go through the list on the TiVo numerically. I can't even find anything on their web site.

Will this work (it is grouped, but seem to be in order...I'mguess =ing the station call letters)

I am the first Series 3 install in my local cable area (formerly Adelphia). I'm near Hookbill but not near enough to have benefitted from his experiences.

CCs: Motorla CableCARDs. One at version 4.21, one at 4.05

The TW supervisor I spoke with this morning told me the following:

- Our cable system is running the "Motorola format."

- For technichal reasons, TW is currently unable to pair cards with specific host IDs in my area. This is expected to change in 3-4 months when all existing Motorola equipment will be changed to Scientific Atlanta.

- My cards have my programming packages manually assigned to them and that the host ID makes no difference. This appears to be accurate as I am able to pull the card from the Tivo and insert it into my TV's slot and receive the correct packages on it. The host ID of the TV was not entered into their system.

I've had two technician visits but no digital channels yet. Signal strength is in the high 90's and analog channels are received ok.

The blue "Acquiring Channel Information" screen never goes away from the Live TV and Test Channels views when the cards are inserted.

I am the first Series 3 install in my local cable area (formerly Adelphia). I'm near Hookbill but not near enough to have benefitted from his experiences.

CCs: Motorla CableCARDs. One at version 4.21, one at 4.05

The TW supervisor I spoke with this morning told me the following:

- Our cable system is running the "Motorola format."

- For technichal reasons, TW is currently unable to pair cards with specific host IDs in my area. This is expected to change in 3-4 months when all existing Motorola equipment will be changed to Scientific Atlanta.

- My cards have my programming packages manually assigned to them and that the host ID makes no difference. This appears to be accurate as I am able to pull the card from the Tivo and insert it into my TV's slot and receive the correct packages on it. The host ID of the TV was not entered into their system.

I've had two technician visits but no digital channels yet. Signal strength is in the high 90's and analog channels are received ok.

The blue "Acquiring Channel Information" screen never goes away from the Live TV and Test Chjannels views when the cards are inserted.

Tivo support thinks that the cards are bad even though they work in the TV. Is it possible for them to work correctly in one device and not in another?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

DM

FWIW,
My first S3 never worked reliably with any cable cards, despite Tivo CSRs pointing to the cards as the culprit.
They eventually caved and said the S3 needed to be replaced. It got replaced and is now running on the third set of CCs, the so called "problematic" ones, without any problems. (Knock on wood).

- It could be a bad Tivo, but I remember one of the cable techs saying that if the cards were ever installed and working in another device they could never get them to work in a Tivo, period. I thought it weird that he would tell me that, but I think he was intimating that the first two sets of CCs were probably "recycled", used, previously owned, etc. Previously Mangled by Software Updates.

Did these card start life in a S3? Were they new or "recycled" from somewhere else?"

I couldn't deal with the tiny print of that webpage, so I made an Excel document in numerical order for West Valley (San Fernando Valley) TW and typed in all the channels. I may be a bit compulsive, but I also entered notes as to which ones I get. Next task is to add notes for which channels do not get sound on the T-3.